


A Moment Closer

by Arisprite



Series: Valentine's Day Kiss Meme 2018 [8]
Category: xxxHoLic
Genre: Angst, M/M, Mention of blood/wound, Pain, Shopkeeper Watanuki, Some comfort if Watanuki would allow himself to take it, balance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-20 12:21:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13717587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arisprite/pseuds/Arisprite
Summary: Watanuki miscalculated, and Doumeki takes care of him, even though it's unnecessary. Things remain, as always, unsaid.Original Prompt by Anonymous





	A Moment Closer

For the first time in a long time, Watanuki had miscalculated. A customer had paid too little for a wish, and Watanuki covered the balance with his body. A long cut marred the paleness of his inner arm, and it took a while to get the blood mopped up and the bandages on. Watanuki was out of practice, and it wasn’t like he often went mountaineering or something to get wounded some other way. 

Watanuki sniffed at the tube of antibacterial ointment and then capped it. 

“Maru, Moro, please make a note to restock the first aid kit, just in case anything like this happens again. So much has expired!” 

“Yes, Master!” 

“Right away, Master!” 

Watanuki sighed, and finished up wrapping the wound. It would heal without a scar, a byproduct of his unnatural youth, but the bandaging would be tedious for a bit. 

Mokona hopped into the room while Watanuki was tidying up the kit, bouncing up onto his shoulder. 

“Doumeki’s here!” he chirped. “and he brought alcohol!” 

Watanuki sighed, having felt the intrusion into the shop a few moments ago. 

“I always tell him to come in from the front, that bastard.” 

Watanuki moved to the front room, glad that his robes covered his new bandages (he didn’t want the disapproving stare that was as close to a lecture as Doumeki ever got). Doumeki was bringing in a bag that obviously held a couple of bottles, and another bulging grocery sack that was hopefully his requested groceries. 

“Oi,” Doumeki said in greeting, and Watanuki grumbled. 

“I have a name,” he said, coming into the kitchen and taking the grocery bag. Oh good, he’d remembered that he didn’t want purple cabbage this time. Watanuki reached into the bag, and winced as his injured arm stung at the movement. Doumeki’s sharp eyes caught on, dammit. 

“What happened?” he asked, in a voice so flat he might as well have been commenting on the weather. Watanuki switched arms and continued taking groceries out. 

“Never you mind.” 

Doumeki leveled a look at him. “You cut yourself cooking?” 

“Sure,” Watanuki said, and knew that Doumeki knew exactly what happened. “I took care of it.” 

“let me see,” Doumeki half asked, and Watanuki gripped the offending wrist, holding it in front of his chest.

“I said, I took care of it!” 

Of course, Doumeki didn’t take no for an answer, and the groceries sat out unorganized on the counter while he dragged Watanuki to a washroom to undo his half careful wrappings. Doumeki’s face was troubled as he examined the long cut in the light of the small room, while Watanuki sat on the bathtub rim and pouted. 

“You know I had it completely cleaned up,” he sniped, and Doumeki only blinked in response, looking at the cut. It wasn’t bleeding anymore, and had sealed up with a thin line of scab. Perfectly acceptable. 

“Guess you’re right,” Doumeki finally said, and Watanuki threw out his other arm.

“I _told_ you! Now wrap it back up, since you can do so much better than me!” 

Doumeki did so with as much care as he put into anything, and Watanuki’s annoyance calmed under his ministrations. It was nice to have someone else do this, he supposed. Doumeki’s deft fingers rubbed in some new ointment (the one that wasn’t expired) and then carefully wrapped the bandages, neat and tidy. Lastly, still holding Watanuki’s arm, he bent down and pressed a kiss to Watanuki’s wrist, right over the sting of the wound. 

Watanuki stared, heat rising in his cheeks. 

There was a long heavy silence. 

“Please, take care of yourself,” Doumeki finally said, eyes still downwards. Watanuki closed his mouth, which had been loose and hanging, and swallowed. 

“Why did you do that?” he asked, and he himself couldn’t tell what emotion was behind his voice, if there was one. Did he like that, did he care, was he disturbed or moved? He had no idea. 

Doumeki moved back, standing and beginning to put away the first aid kit for the second time today. 

“A kiss can make it better,” he murmured. An eyebrow slanted at him, and Doumeki looked briefly like Haruka, a glint of a tease in his eyes. Watanuki blinked, and it passed, and Doumeki was the same as ever. 

“Can it?” Watanuki mused, looking over his bandage again. Then he moved his eyes up to Doumeki’s face. “I’ll keep that in mind.” 

Doumeki nodded, as if in agreement to whatever the hell it was they were talking about. After that, Watanuki demanded they go back to the kitchen and put away the groceries, and then Watanuki was making omurice whether Doumeki liked it or not. Doumeki followed after quietly, and the evening passed on into night.


End file.
